“You put your fucking mouth on her neck,” Jakob hollers, grabbing our attention. “What were you going to do? Mark our Omega, you piece of shit?”
Another hit. Louis’s head snaps sideways. Blood from his nose, and a split in his lip.
Corey kisses me. “You’re safe now, gorgeous, but I need to make him hurt too. Would you like that? Brody switched the camera off once we arrived, so no one else has to see.” He winks at me.
I’m nodding. “Very much.” I’m not a violent person, but right now, every strike Louis takes is music to my ears after everything he’s put me through.
Corey leaves my side, and Brody collects me in his arms and has me off my feet, cradled against his chest. “We’re moving intogether after this, no more separate places. Fuck, if anything had happened to you, Claire, I’d never forgive myself.”
I hear him, but my gaze locks on Corey, who’s grabbing Louis’s shirt and spinning him, and his fist connects with Louis’s stomach so hard the air punches out in a wet gasp. Louis doubles over, and Corey drives his knee upward into his jaw, the crack echoing through the house.
“I want to kill you,” Jakob says simply as if he’s ordering coffee. “I want you to know that and carry that knowledge with you for the rest of your miserable life. That three men stood over you in this hallway and every single one of them wanted to end you. And if we see you near Claire again, we’ll make good on our promise.”
Louis groans, spitting out blood. “You can keep the bitch.”
Corey shoves his fist into his face, stealing his cocky grin, and Louis falls flat on his back.
Pressing myself against Brody, I finally breathe easily, not wanting to be anywhere else.
Louis is sprawled on the floor, bleeding from his nose, his lip, the scratches on his cheek from my nails. One eye is swelling shut. He’s curling onto his side, arms wrapped around his ribs, making small, wet gasping sounds.
The pair grab his legs and drag him out of my house.
I bury my face in the curve of Brody’s neck, where his scent wraps around me, and the world stops spinning.
“You’re with me now, and safe.” His voice cracks on the words. “He’s done. It’s over.”
“I couldn’t stop him. I tried?—”
Brody pulls back enough to stare me in the eyes. “He didn’t hurt you badly or mark you. That’s what matters. Did he do anything else to you?”
“Nothing I won’t heal from,” I admit truthfully.
“You’re the toughest person I’ve ever met,” he says roughly. “You survived that fucker alone until we got here, and I swear to God, Claire, I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never have to be that brave again.”
He leans in and steals a kiss, and I melt into him. Soon enough, he’s carrying me out of the house and onto the front lawns of our homes, where the others are.
Brody gently lowers my feet to the grass, his arms still locked around my waist. And I glance up to find that, on the ground with his hands tied behind his back, is Kristian.
And Louis is being dumped down next to him, hands hauled behind him, tied as he wails from the pain in his ribs. Kristian is dead serious, face pale, and he gives Louis the filthiest glare I’d ever seen.
“Enjoy the company,” Jakob states, straightening up. “You deserve each other.”
“When did Kristian get back?” I ask, my gaze drifting to Trudy in the doorway, blanket clutched around her shoulders, staring at her former Alpha on the grass with a face drained of all color.
Sirens are wailing in the distance, growing louder.
“Caught the bastard breaking into our house,” Brody says, his arm still tight around me.
“That’s why we got slightly delayed getting to you, and we called the cops.”
“A whole two extra minutes I’ll never forgive myself for until we realized you were in danger,” Corey mutters.
I blow him a kiss because they saved me.
Jakob crouches in front of the two men. The moonlight catches the blood on his knuckles and the set of his jaw. He’s enormous from this angle, a wall of muscle, and both men on the ground shrink backward.
“So,” Jakob says, his voice so low it barely carries. “What exactly are you two doing here? Together at the same time and in our homes.”